By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor
June 23 marked a great day for developers Swire Properties and James Goldstein, as Miami city commissioners approved both of their major projects that are to reshape the city core.
In an attempt to create Miami’s own [...]

June 23 marked a great day for developers Swire Properties and James Goldstein, as Miami city commissioners approved both of their major projects that are to reshape the city core.

In an attempt to create Miami’s own Rockefeller Center, Hong Kong-based Swire Properties, the developer of Brickell Key, is planning a $700 million urban gathering place—Brickell CitiCentre. Spread over 9.1 acres west of Brickell Avenue and south of the Miami River, the development will include (in addition to a major retail component) restaurants, a hotel, office towers, and either apartments or condos. The first phase, slated for delivery within four years, is comprised of 500,000 sq. ft. of retail shops and restaurants, a 290-room four-star hotel, a residential tower with nearly 270 units and two eight-stories office towers. Miami-based Arquitectonica will be in charge of the design, which will include developer Swire Properties’ vision of bridges and covered walkways connecting the four-block area.

Good news is also in store for developer James Goldstein, whose 1700 Biscayne Boulevard two-tower residential, hotel and retail project will be one tower larger. Miami city commissioners have voted unanimously for the approval of Goldstein’s requested changes to its major use special permit. Therefore, the 1700 Biscayne Boulevard project will now feature a third 431,014-square-foot mixed-use tower, which will add another 153 residential units, 216 hotel rooms and 100,051 square feet of office space to the initial plan. The new tower will face the Omni complex and will replace a Burger King restaurant.

Both proposals are in need of a second commission vote, but this is merely a formality, as Mayor Tomás Regalado is a major supporter of the projects; he believes that such a major project as CitiCentre will help boost the city’s image and economy. Another proposal—of two 27-story residential towers set on the border between Overtown and the Park West warehouse district—was scheduled for a vote but, according to the Miami Herald, it was deferred, at the developers’ request, until next month.